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Author Topic: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-36 Decisions, Decisions  (Read 656496 times)

Grek

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 24
« Reply #750 on: March 12, 2012, 09:58:36 pm »

It doesn't seem especially likely that Vitality->Heat is something that we can learn to do.
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monk12

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #751 on: March 12, 2012, 11:47:15 pm »

I think we would be better off not bringing up necromancy beforehand, and instead when we show him the golem we should say we think that the golem magic is the same type of magic that necromancers use.
I think our telling him strategy was pretty much decided on pages and pages back.

And we should wait until we are into human lands, away from people. Our first day in the wilderness - may it come quickly.

When you awaken the next morning, you resolve to wait until you are in the wilderness of Human lands to tell Omo- surely no more than a few days from now. Crawling out of the tent, you find that Omo has snared a pair of rabbits, and tuck in to an enjoyable meal.

Your second day out from Yicelafo starts foggy, but warm. Spring is in full swing, and summer is on its way. You and Omo speak only a little, the fog muffling your quiet conversation, and soon you lapse into an amiable silence as you enjoy the serene quality of your journey. The fog burns off as the afternoon wears on, helped along by a cool breeze along the riverbank. As you travel, Omo grows more and more perturbed, sometimes stopping and peering at the trees uneasily. After the third such pause, you turn to him quizzically.

Omo, what do you think you're doing?
I've been seeing a lot of trailsign in the trees.
Trailsign?
Yeah, it's a Ranger thing. Little ways to communicate with other Rangers. Like, you see that flower and leaf tied to the branch with a vine?
How do you know that's a flower? Looks like a stem to me.
Yeah, it's a rose stem actually. Wouldn't do to leave the petals on the stem, you'd see it from a mile off.
If it's communication, isn't it supposed to be seen?
Yeah, but not by civilians, or enemies. It's kindof a Ranger secret. Anyway, my point is that I've been seeing a lot of it. A lot more than I'd expect to see.
So... what? I'm guessing this is a bad thing, from your tone.
Well, and I'm not sure, which is why I didn't mention it yet, but I think that there's a big Ranger presence on the border. The things I've been seeing seem to be patrols communicating with one another- normally I'd expect there to be one patrol on duty at a time, and with the Necromancers I was expecting there to be two or three, but I think the trailsign I've been seeing is between at least three different groups.
Didn't you just say you were expecting three?
Yeah, but we're not even at the edge of the forest yet. If there's this many patrols here, near the heart, how many are going to be out on the actual border? Are you sure the Elders weren't sealing the border yet?
I thought so. Maybe they decided to get a jump on the end of the Fair.
I hope not. This could get tricky.

Omo sets off, and you follow, somewhat troubled. You'd rather hoped to avoid any run-ins with the Rangers- you doubt they'll track you down once you're gone, but they'll probably try to stop you before you get clear of the Vale. That night, Omo insists on a small fire and a campsite away from the river, and you don't feel inclined to disagree. After inconspicuously Sensing Vitality to take the edge off your mana pool, you go to sleep.

You arise early the next morning and head out, digging into your trail rations for breakfast on the go- with luck, you'll be in Thrimesdur by sundown. Omo is visibly tense, and every few hours points out another piece of trailsign- a warning about a bear den here, a guide to delicious honeycomb there, and apparently a heap of Ranger humor everywhere judging by Omo's snorts and dismissive gestures.

You make good time traveling along the riverbank as the Great River curves to the south. As the afternoon wears on, Omo starts stopping more frequently, holding up a hand for silence. Eventually, he calls for a halt altogether, and leads you to a secluded little clump of shrubs. You are more than happy for the rest break, for while you are no stranger to long walks you normally recover from your exertions in your comfy bed, not the cold bumpy ground. As you lean against a tree and dig into your provisions, Omo informs you that he's going scouting and slips away through the trees.

You finish your meal, and stretch, waiting for Omo to return. The minutes seem to drag by, alone in the woods- it feels like hours, but by the sun it is only about 30 minutes later that Omo comes back, a grim look on his face.

We've got a problem Nym. There's a lot of Rangers here, and I'm not sure we can slip past them.
What? How many is a lot?
Enough to repulse an attack from the river, and more than enough to catch us if we aren't careful. It looks like this is a local staging point for the Rangers, protecting the ferry at Larathor.
The ferry?
Yeah- it's how the Caravan crossed, and how I was planning to get to Thrimesdur. From what I can tell, there's a picket watching the ferry at all times, and lots of Rangers in the treeline up and down the Great River.
You saw all that? Are you sure you weren't spotted?
I'm sure- they were too busy looking out to keep more than a cursory eye on the Walled Jungle behind them. The real question is, what do we do now.
What are our options?
Well, we could try to make it to the ferry. We'd almost certainly be spotted, but if we can get across the guiderope before the sentries catch up we should be alright. We could try it under the cover of darkness, which would be much more dangerous but might let us make it unseen.
Alright, so when you say "get across the guiderope"...
I mean that there's a rope that runs from one bank of the river to the other. The ferry almost certainly won't be on our side of the river, and we can't wait for it to come to us, so we'll have to do it the old fashioned way. Hand over hand.
Yeah, I'm not feeling that plan. What else you got?
My only other idea would be to go around- we could go north and try to find a spot we can swim across or ford, or we could go south and try to wave down a boat- if we go south far enough we'll hit another town sooner or later. Either option would take us days out of our way, and we'd still have to worry about Ranger patrols while we're traveling.
Yeah, I'm not crazy about that option either.
I say we just make a run for it. You got a better idea?

It's a tough situation- Omo seems confident in his ability to outrun the Rangers, but you are somewhat less sure. What should you do?

Spoiler: You (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Spells (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Omo Thunderjaw (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Notable Figures (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Planned Experiments (click to show/hide)
Spoiler: Maps (click to show/hide)

GlyphGryph

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #752 on: March 13, 2012, 12:25:04 am »

Think - There HAS to be a better way than hand over hand, and risking going into the river. Can we work up any sort of harness and hook, some way we could put the bulk of our weight directly onto the rope so we can use our hands and feet to do all the work? Obviously something we'd be able to get out on the rope quick. Then we hand underneath and slide ourselves along as quickly as possible. We've got fishing equipment - I don't know if we have any big strong hooks, but that will give us anchors. Then we have some rope - tie it to one backpack strap, toss the rope over, anchor it with a line of hooks, and GO.

I think running through is our best bet - they won't be expecting it, and most of all they won't know what to DO about. They'll have no orders for such an event, I'm sure, and I doubt they're going to risk hurting us or sending us into the river. And if they do, yell at them that they're going to get us killed. That should slow them down.

They're used to combating threats, I'm sure, not preventing escapees.
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fergus

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #753 on: March 13, 2012, 12:41:02 am »

I think running through is our best bet - they won't be expecting it, and most of all they won't know what to DO about. They'll have no orders for such an event, I'm sure, and I doubt they're going to risk hurting us or sending us into the river. And if they do, yell at them that they're going to get us killed. That should slow them down.
Seconded.
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BY THE GODS! YOU HAVE TOO MANY SIGS!

GlyphGryph

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #754 on: March 13, 2012, 12:56:53 am »

Second plan - Ask Omo what an official letter to leave looks like.

If he knows, see if we can recreate a passable fake.

If he doesn't, well then, it shouldn't be too hard to create a passable fake, since he's a ranger too. :P

And if things don't look like they're working out, we might at least have the raft closer or ourselves be closer to the rope. (still going with the hook loop plan for faster crossing).

How wide is the river and how fast is the current, btw?
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Grek

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #755 on: March 13, 2012, 01:06:12 am »

Running probably isn't going to work. Yeah, Omo could make it, but we're tired and we've never gone hand over hand on a rope in our entire lives. We will fail comically if we attempt it at any significant speed and our dad will find out and we will be grounded until we're 50.

Here's my suggestion:
0. This is something that we should do regardless of which plan we choose: Look through Prestidigitation for the Beginning Practitioner for basic waterproofing spells that are safe to apply to the book and to our writing materials. It would seriously suck if we managed to get across the river only to discover that our one and only source of general magical knowledge was ruined by the water.
1. Go find that bear that the trailsign warned about before and use a combination of Calm Animal and knowledge of the location of delicious honeycomb also mention by the trailsign to wheedle the bear into serving as a distraction for us by screwing around in the ranger's tents. Time this so that the bear is at the camp after dark.
2. While the rangers are being distracted by our bearstraction, cross the river under cover of darkness.
3. Run like hell.
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Cellmonk

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #756 on: March 13, 2012, 02:10:24 am »

Are we an elf, or a dwarf? Why don't we just run on TOP of the rope, like a true elf, while doing various acrobatic stunts and rudely gesturing at the salmon. We could fish while we're at it.

On a serious note, do we know how to swim? couldn't we loosen a log from the shore, and paddle across? we shouldn't be too conspicuous---a log in the current. we can land further down stream.

The log would decrease both our chances of drowning and being spotted.

We could attach our supplies to the underside of the log, using our leather.
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bombzero

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #757 on: March 13, 2012, 02:21:12 am »

Are we an elf, or a dwarf? Why don't we just run on TOP of the rope, like a true elf, while doing various acrobatic stunts and rudely gesturing at the salmon. We could fish while we're at it.

On a serious note, do we know how to swim? couldn't we loosen a log from the shore, and paddle across? we shouldn't be too conspicuous---a log in the current. we can land further down stream.

The log would decrease both our chances of drowning and being spotted.

We could attach our supplies to the underside of the log, using our leather.

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lockman766

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #758 on: March 13, 2012, 03:42:27 am »

well i'm for going north, but since you mentioned the bear I'm all for distraction.
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Descan

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #759 on: March 13, 2012, 04:34:53 am »

Why don't we make a quick-and-dirty raft, attach it to the guideline, and use a sufficiently-long-pole to push ourselves over the river? Shouldn't take more than a day or two, and if we time it right, we can get across safely in the dark. It'd take longer than just booking it and going hand-over-hand, but be safer. And it'd be quicker than finding a place down or upstream to cross.
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RAM

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #760 on: March 13, 2012, 05:49:35 am »

There will not be much time if we make a run for it, carrying a vessel large enough to support a person will likely be too cumbersome a task for the available time. Bear in mind also that learning a spell from the book would also be time consuming, and unreliable without practical experiments...

Consider the possibilities of animate object. It could look like a general spell and if it could compel a rope to move of its own volition then it may be possible to build a new rope bride at a less patrolled location.

I say ask Omo if they could offer any assistance with crossing, maybe strap you to the rope somehow, as you are not confident in your ability. If it comes down to your ability to cross a rope faster than the rangers, than go north or try to convince them to let you cross. If you can get any advantage, then make a run for it, probably in daylight.

Could you masquerade as diplomats, or advanced scouts for formal diplomats?
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forsaken1111

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #761 on: March 13, 2012, 06:38:46 am »

Hell, why don't we just stroll down there bold as brass and bluster our way through? Its not like an elf is going to draw arms against another elf, and if we act important enough they may let us pass. I doubt anyone has reported us missing or marked us as a person to detain yet.

Or we could just wait for the caravan and get some human clothing to slip through in the crowd with them.
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Angle

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #762 on: March 13, 2012, 07:51:11 am »

I don't think the caravan is traveling this way. And I doubt we have enough experience with animate object and alter golem to do any such thing. And Omo would be suspicious as fuck, also.

I'm for bluffing and running, I doubt we'd be able to set up a distraction very well.
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GlyphGryph

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #763 on: March 13, 2012, 08:41:16 am »

I still think forging a document would be a good assistance to a bluff, and we should still be able to run if things go poorly.

It's either that or if Omo can find some sort of floaty log we can push into the river a bit up shore, then we can catch the rope on the way down and use it as an impromptu raft.

Actually, for even better cover, Omo could claim he's staying here, and he was just escorting us to the crossing. This will put the focus on us a little bit at least, and then
a) if our bluff falls apart and we need to make a break for it, Omo can claim that he'll "get us back, the lying bastard" and follow, potentially slowing down both attempts to catch us and him, and likely having the raft closer.
b) If the bluff doesn't fail, we can wait until the raft gets here, and as it pulls away with us on it Omo can run and jump aboard, giving us a very very good chance of success.

What's on the other side of the river townwise, by the way? We should claim that as our immediate goal, and then wandering and diplomacy trying to get a feel for the possible resistance, chokepoints, fallback plans. Basically, act like a proper diplomat interacting with a neighboring ally in a war.
But you know - Omo probably knows this potential process better than us. ASK him if this sort of bluff would work - how many elves would come down to check us out, what would be their likely responses, could they be fooled by a fake document, especially to leave the lands, which they've likely never done before, how much force are they likely to use to prevent our crossing. Omos feedback will help us determine if the plan is even viable, and if so, how best to execute it.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2012, 08:48:06 am by GlyphGryph »
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MikaTheCrazy

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Re: You are a Necromancer! Part 25
« Reply #764 on: March 13, 2012, 10:18:06 am »

In my opinion we should (in order of success possibility)

A. sneak across using bearstraction (Grek's idea)  B. make a dash with the hook harness idea (Glyphgryph) C. sneak across using a log and waterproofing spells. (Cellmonk)

Trying to bluster our way across is out of the question. We would get caught in seconds. depending on what Omo knows about passes to leave that could also be a possibility.
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